


Spiders and Stuff

by Bethie0608



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Banshees, Demons, Fae Magic, Kitsune, Sirens, Succubi & Incubi, Vampires, Werewolves, Witchcraft, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:06:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23541289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bethie0608/pseuds/Bethie0608
Summary: Jae finds out all of his friends from high school are a lot more interesting then he thought they were and apparently so is he.
Relationships: Kang Younghyun | Young K/Original Female Character(s), Kim Wonpil/Yoon Dowoon, Park Jaehyung | Jae/Original Female Character(s), Park Sungjin/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This one took me a while to actually edit. It was fun to write though. I never know what to say in these things sooooo I'll just go now. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the story though.

It was the grunts and shouts of men that caught her attention, enticed, she wanders down into the darkness. For the long-lived vampire, stalking her prey is as natural as breathing once was. She knows the men, those still on their feet, they’re her’s.  
“What are you doing?” Her voice echoes off the cobblestones, and their erratic heartbeats fill her ears for a moment. Their focus jumps to her, abandoning the man, unconscious and bleeding on the ground.  
“Boss!” The leader of the group, Duke, greets. “You scared us.”   
“Meant to.” She grins, “What are you doing?” She asks again, brushing past them to kneel in front of the unconscious man. He was cute, she realized, with his messy dyed blond hair and the circle lenses that rested haphazardly on his face.   
“He was causing trouble at Mark’s, so we brought him out here to teach him a lesson.” He replied, and for a moment she chose to ignore the increase in his heart rate.  
“Take him to the house and I’ll meet you there.” She rises, making her way to the building behind them.  
“You want us to take him to the house?” Someone asks and she spins back to them, making them all flinch.  
“Are you questioning me, Jose?” She questions, raising an eyebrow in challenge, he shakes his head quickly. “Good. See you at home.” With that, she turns back round and enters the bar. “Hey Mark.” She greets the owner, and her friend, as she approaches the bar.   
“Hey boss.” Mark greets, eyebrow raised in confusion at the sight of her, “What brings you here?”  
“What happened with the blond boy with the circle glasses?” She questions, and he could have confirmed her suspicions with his grimace alone   
“Jae was having a drink with me and Jacks. He starts laughing and knocks over his own drink. Duke had a whole ass fit about how the boss was gonna be mad and dragged Jae out back” He tells her, as Jackson walks out of the back room.   
“Hey boss.”Jackson greets, “Duke isn’t allowed back in here.” Jackson tells her and she nods absentmindedly.  
“That won’t be a problem, Jacks. See you two when you get home.” She leans over the bar to kiss both of their cheeks, before turning and beginning the walk home.  
It takes less than 10 minutes to make it home, and her first destination upon arrival is the infirmary, where Duke and his goons should have taken Jae.   
“What did you do to him, boss?” Sungjin, the resident healer, questions from his seat next to the still unconscious blond.  
“I saved him from Duke and his idiots, is what I did, Sungjin.” She retorts, coming to stand at the end of Jae’s bed.   
“What do you mean?” Sungjin’s information demand is met with her heavy sigh.  
“When I got there, Jae was already on the ground, Duke was kicking the shit out of him. I had them all come here, and found out what really happened from Mark.” She tells Sungjin and he stands, pissed and ready to go fight Duke himself, but stops when she puts up her hand. “I’ll deal with Duke, Jinnie.” She assured the man, “You just take care of him.” She nods to Jae and Sungjin glances at the boy on the bed.   
“He’ll be fine. Couple of broken ribs, a fractured wrist and a busted lip. Nothing I couldn’t handle.” He explains, “You know we all went to high school together right?” Sungjin looks back to his boss who shrugs.   
“I had heard of a Jae from Bri, but it didn’t really click till just now. I never had a face for the name. Speaking of you all, where are the other three?” She asks, leaning against the end of the bed.  
“Dopil are shopping, and Brian still hasn’t returned from his task.” He replies, she nods, turning towards the door to leave.   
“When Dopil get back, have Dowoon come to my office. I have something I need him to do and let me know when he wakes up.” He nods in confirmation, prompting her to leave the room. Taking a breath, she catches the scent of the men, and the hunt is on.  
She finds them sitting quietly in the game room and for a moment, leans on the door frame, unnoticed. “Duke.” Her voice makes them all jump to their feet, the mentioned man taking a small step towards her.  
“Yes, boss?” His voice is shaking, and she beckons him to move closer. Once he is standing in front of her, she looks at him for a moment before wrapping her hand around his neck and slamming him into the wall beside the door. The vibrations of the harsh impact rattle nearby objects.  
“Did you think it was ok to lie to me, boy?” She growls at the terrified man who can only shake his head, movement barely visible in her grasp. “Then why did you?” She demands, tone dark, but he can only gape at her like a fish for a few seconds before her temper boils over. The snapping of his neck echoes through the quiet room, followed by the thump of the corpse hitting the floor. “Do you want to be next?” She turns back to the other men who shake their heads vigorously, now too terrified to speak. She nods her approval, thinking for a second, “Good. Take dumbass’ body to the incinerator, then go and wait in the courtyard. I’ll send someone to deal with you in a bit.” The other men nod, sharing scared glances as they wait for her to leave before moving.   
Once in her office she falls into the chair, propping her feet up on the oak desk, exhausted from her dealings for the night. She sighs when a soft knock fills the office, but knows who it is, the only person who bothered to knock anymore.   
“Come in, Dowoon.” She calls softly, knowing he can hear her.   
“What can I do for you, boss? Sungjin said you had a task for me.” He says in lieu of a greeting, shutting the door behind as he came into the room fully.  
“I do, I do, Do, but first, how was shopping with Pillie?” Her smile is mirrored on his face in an instant.  
“It was fun, as always. Pillie makes everything fun.” She chuckles tiredly at the cute boy, who raises his eyebrow at her, “You okay, Eomma?” He asks with a cheeky grin plastered on his face, and she can’t help but laugh at the name.  
“I’m fine, although I could use a hug from my son.” She tells him, standing. He grins happily at her, stepping forward to wrap his arms around the vampire’s frame. “Thank you, pup.” She sighs, pulling away after a lone moment.  
“So my task?” He asks curiously and she motions for him to follow her.  
“Have you been to the infirmary yet?” She asks, leading him to the window.  
“Yeah, and I’ve seen Jae. Pillie’s with him now. What happened to him?” Dowoon asks, both their gazes trained on the courtyard outside.  
“Duke and his boys happened. Duke claimed Jae made a scene at Mark’s, but after I sent them all here, I talked to Mark. Obviously, Jae wasn’t the one who made a scene and now Mark and Jacks don’t want Duke at the bar.” She explains, to which Dowoon nods and turns away from the window.  
“If Duke lied to you,” He begins, “Then, why are there only three down out there waiting?” He asks, earning a grin from her in response.  
“There’s three because Duke is already dead. Nothing says “don’t lie to me” quite like watching someone’s neck snap.” It’s quiet in the room for a moment before Dowoon’s giggles fill the air.  
"You're amazing, Eomma.” He finally compliments, “Anyway, I'm gonna deal with the idiots." He pulls her in for one more hug and she sneaks in a kiss on his cheek before he gets out of the room.   
Dowoon hasn't even been gone five minutes when Sungjin's voice floats into her mind. He's awake, boss. He states, pulling away from her mind immediately after. Another sigh escapes her before she makes her way back to the infirmary. She’s greeted by the sight of her elder wolf pup, Wonpil, talking animatedly with the blonde, who was actually smiling at the boy.  
"Pillie seems to make everyone smile." She mumbles to Sungjin, who came to stand beside her.   
"That he does. Did you take care of Duke?" He asks, and she nods with a sick grin. "Oh yeah, snapped his neck like a dry noodle for everyone to see. Dowoon’s out in the courtyard with the rest of them." She tells him, making him snort loudly, catching Wonpil’s attention.  
"Boss!" He exclaims, placing a hand on the foot board of Jae's bed and vaulting over it, leaving the blonde wide eyed. Wonpil rushes into her embrace, reminding everyone of a puppy whose master had left it alone too long.   
"Hey Pillie. How was shopping with Do?" She asks, a warm smile gracing her features as she looks at the young boy.  
"It was great. We always have fun. Where is he anyway?" The wolf says quickly, his eyes never leaving hers. He's in the courtyard. Dealing with those who hurt your friend over there. The smile falls from his face quickly, replaced by rage filled eyes and a clenched jaw.  
"Go help him, yeah?" She offers with a wink and he nods.   
"Of course, boss." He places a kiss on her cheek, calling out a goodbye to Jae before leaving the room   
"How do you feel, darling?" She asks Jae once Wonpil has left.   
"I feel great which makes no sense. I distinctly remember getting my ass kicked." The blonde replies and Sungjin opens his mouth to say something but she waves him off.   
"I'm sure you have a lot of questions." Jae nods at her words and she motions for him to continue.  
"Well first, who are you?" He asks and Sungjin snorts again, earning a glare from the boy.   
"My name is Elena but you can call me Elle." She replies, not seeing the look of surprise Sungjin throws her way. Jae nods, quietly processing for a moment before continuing.   
"Why does Wonpil call you boss?" He asks, making Elle chuckle quietly.  
"That would be because I am his boss as well as Sungjin's." She replies and Sungjin nods when Jae looks at him. "How much do you remember from earlier, Jae?" Before he can answer, the smell of blood fills her nose as Wonpil and Dowoon re enter the room.   
Elle’s attention immediately turns to the younger boys, finding Dowoon with a black eye and busted lip, and a gash over Wonpil’s eyebrow.  
"They hit you?" The question comes out as more of a statement, as Elle’s eyes flash red in rage.  
"It's fine, boss. They've been taken care of." Dowoon assures her, though Jae’s shocked and worried gasp fills the room once he finally sees what happened. Elle doesn’t hear his words, still attempting to leave the room, only stopping when Wonpil grabs her arm.  
"Eomma, it's fine. Paul won't be able to walk properly even after Sungjin sees him and Jose will be unconscious for at least a couple of days." He grins, which is quickly replaced with a wince.  
“At least let Sungjin take care of it.” Elle orders the boys, who make their way to an empty bed.  
“Of course. Why do you think we’re here?” Dowoon says with a giggle and Elle can’t help but roll her eyes.   
“Wait, did Wonpil just call you Eomma?” Jae asks, more surprised than confused. Elle turns back to him long enough to nod before returning her gaze to Sungjin and the boys. She hears Jae gasp as Sungjin’s hand, which he had placed over Wonpil’s forehead, starts to glow. “What the actual fuck just happened?” Jae demands to know when Sungjin removes his hand to reveal a completely healed Wonpil.  
“I’m a witch, Jae.” Sungjin states. “I specialize in healing magic, which is what makes me useful to Elle.” Sungjin says, placing his hand over Dowoon’s eye.   
“How long has that been going on?” Jae asks, and Elle turns to him in surprise.  
“Ever since I can remember to be honest.” Sungjin shrugs, “It was hard to hide in school though, especially being friends with your clumsy ass.” Sungjin replies and Jae glares at him.   
“Rude.” Jae mumbles as Sungjin pokes Dowoon’s lip.   
“Ow!” Dowoon yelps, eyes flashing gold at the pain.   
“Woah! What was that?” Jae asks, attention set solely on Dowoon.  
“We’re werewolves.” Wonpil confessed to his friend, eyes flashing gold for emphasis.  
“Weird.” Jae says quietly, which Elle finds both confusing and intriguing.  
“Anyway,” She shifts the conversation, “Back to my previous question, Jae. How much do you remember?” Elle asks, once Sungjin was finished with Dowoon.  
“Uhhh” Jae pauses, thinking for a second. “I was at Mark’s, having a drink and we were talking. Jackson said something stupid, as he does,” The others nod in agreement to his statement. “I started laughing and knocked my drink over. Next thing I know, there’s this dude having an aneurysm about it, saying that the boss was gonna be mad, then I’m getting pulled through the bar by the back of my shirt. Last thing I remember is being on the ground while he and three other guys kicked the shit out of me.” Jae finishes as the door opens again, this time to reveal Brian.  
“Hey boss.” He greets, seeming unaware of his friend sitting in the bed nearby “I went to your office but you weren’t there, so I came down here to bother Sungjin and here you are. Two birds, one stone, I guess.” Brian shrugs the last few words, and Elle nods, gesturing for him to continue. “So Marcos says that if you want to strike a deal then you have to go in person, which is kinda weird but whatever. The Shin twins are down with an alliance, however they would still like to meet with you if it’s possible.” Brian pauses for a breath and glances to his right finding Jae, who waves almost timidly. “What the hell are you doing here?” He asks Jae, not giving him a chance to answer before turning to Elle. “What the hell is he doing here?” Elle laughs at his antics, while Jae just stares on in confusion.  
“Duke and his boys beat the shit out of him outside of Mark’s bar so I saved him. I finally found a justifiable reason to kill Duke though. He lied to me.” She replies with a grin, and hears Jae mumble ‘vampire’ under his breath when he catches sight of her fangs.  
“Since when do you need a justifiable reason to kill someone? Especially Duke? He was annoying as fuck.” Brian snorts, and as if on cue, creepy giggles spread throughout the room. Elle can see Jae glancing around, trying to find the source as the others ignore it completely.  
“I didn’t but it was funny, wasn’t it, Bri?” Elle asks with a grin, making Brian laugh again, followed shortly by the giggling.  
“Am I the only one hearing the creepy giggling?” Jae wonders, caution laced in his words. Sungjin just shakes his head, pulling a broom out of a nearby cupboard.  
“No, it’s just the spider.” He says, smacking the broom against the ceiling, knocking an entire person down.   
“Did you have to use the broom you sweep the floor with, Jin? Shouldn’t I have my own special broom?” The girl whines, spitting dust from her mouth and fixing her glare on the witch.   
“No, you wanna be creepy and crawl around on the ceiling then you get to be beaten like any common house pest.” Sungjin replies, sass etched into his words, making the others laugh.   
“Rude. Just cause I’m a spider.” The girl huffs, though her attention is quickly grabbed by Elle clearing her throat. “Oh hey boss. When did you get there?” The girl asks, making Elle roll her eyes and snort.  
“I’ve been here, Shy.” Jae lets out a small gasp in realization.  
“Shyla?” Her gaze snaps to him at the mention of her name.  
“Jae? What are you doing here?” Shyla asks, confusion evident on her face.  
“I got beat up and Elle saved my ass.” Jae shrugs, “What about you?” Jae makes it a point to look between the girls.  
“Oh you know me, bro, where Bri goes, I go. Plus I’m a great spy for the boss.” Shyla answers, a wicked grin painted across her face.  
“Spy?” Shyla’s eyes get a bit wider at his confusion and she immediately looks to Elle.  
“He doesn’t know.” She muses, “Oh well. I’m a spider demon. Wanna see something cool?” Shyla asks excitedly, making Brian's eyes widen.   
"Babe, no." Brian tries to order, but Shyla ignores him, and suddenly has eight, jet black eyes on her face. Jae nearly falls off the bed, rearing back with a noise of disgust, and the others in the room laugh at his reaction.  
"So wait” Jae begins, recovering from his initial shock, “Sungjin is a witch, Dopil are werewolves, Elle is a vampire and Shyla is a spider demon?” He gets a series of nods in response, “What about you, Bri? What are you?" Jae’s answer comes in the form of Brian smirking and suddenly there’s Jae, standing across the room from Jae. Brian had become an exact replica of the boy on the bed, though, without his glasses.  
"Shapeshifter." Brian says with Jae's voice.   
"Cool." Jae breathes, which makes Elle worry about his calmness. Instead of pressing him, she turns to Brian.  
"Bri, set up meetings with both Marcos and the Shin twins for next week please?" She asks the shapeshifter, who had returned to his own face. He nods, offering her a small salute. "Great. Take your spider with you." She orders as an afterthought, and the others chuckle as Brian literally drags his girlfriend from the room.  
"You know, you're oddly calm about all this, Jae. Finding out all your friends from high school are supernatural in some way" Wonpil states, plopping himself down on the end of the bed.   
"Life is crazy, Pil.” Jae shrugs, pulling the blankets off his lap and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. “I take it in stride." Sungjin snorts at his response and Dowoon has to hide his laughter behind his hands.  
"Got somewhere to be, kid?" Elle asks Jae, who shakes his head.  
"Nah, just can’t keep sitting in bed. I need to stretch my legs, if that’s okay?" His sheepish grin makes Sungjin and Dowoon chuckle.  
"Why don't you go with him, boss?” Dowoon offers. “He'll get lost or fall over. He's very clumsy." Dowoon says cheekily, earning a glare from Jae.  
"Why is everyone so disrespectful today?" He asks no one, making the youngest two boys giggle, though Elle just rolls her eyes.   
"Alright. Come on, blondie." She caves,offering him a hand to pull him off the bed. She leads him out of the infirmary and down the hall before speaking. "I have to check on Brian in my office real quick, then we'll go wherever you want."She states, and Jae only nods at her words.  
She leads him through the massive house for a few minutes before pausing outside a door for a second, readying herself, before swinging it open. "Really you two? I said make meetings not babies." Elle scolds the couple seated in her desk chair, Shyla on Brian’s lap and the pair breathing a bit harder than normal.  
"We were just kissing, boss." Shyla defends with a grin, unraveling herself from her boyfriend.  
"Yeah, for now. I know the two of you better than that, Shy." Elle replies with a raised eyebrow and Jae snorts. "Take it to your room." She shoos them out of the room, attention diverting to the papers on her desk. "Thank you, Bri!" She calls out, knowing she won’t get a response. "Alright then, where do you wanna go?" She looks up at Jae, who briefly panics.  
"Wherever you wanna take me." He answers after a moment and she nods in understanding.   
"Let's see if any of the others are home yet, then." She offers, to which Jae nods.  
The room they end up at spills laughter into the hallway when Elle opens the door. Jae peeks in as Elle leans against the door frame, eyes widening when he sees his friend Bambam throw a knife at his other friend Jaebeom.  
“What is going on in there?” Jae whispers to Elle, who takes this as her chance to fully enter the room.  
“They’re having fun. Board games don’t entertain people like us, right boys?” The boys finally catch sight of her and Jae momentarily loses sight of her in the mass.  
“What are you doing here, Jae?” Youngjae asks, finally noticing the blond after greeting Elle with a kiss on the cheek.  
“Got my ass kicked by Duke and the Dicks, Elle saved my skin.” Jae explains. “Why? Do you not want me here, Youngjae?” Jae asks, but the younger man just laughs and pulls him in for a hug.   
“I’m glad that you’re not dead.” Youngjae informs him as he pulls away.   
“Thanks.” Jae says sarcastically, playfully shoving the younger boy away as Elle chuckles.   
“So it seems you know all of them?” Elle asks and Jae nods but before he can speak the door opens.   
“He met them through us.” Mark announces as he wanders over to greet Elle with a kiss on the cheek, Jackson following suit.  
“Oh look it’s my favorite set of gay vampires.” Jaebeom greets earning a snort from Elle as Jae doubles over with laughter.  
“JB! Jae didn’t know.” Jackson whines, making Jae laugh harder.   
“I didn’t know which part, Jacks, that you were gay or that you were vampires?” Jae asks, catching his breath and fixing his stare on the shorter man.  
“Both, I thought.” Jackson answers uncertainly and Jae rolls his eyes in response.  
“The gay part is obvious with as much time as I spend at the bar and Mark’s teeth when he laughs give the vampire part away.” Jae replies with a grin while Mark laughs uncontrollably at Jackson’s shocked face.   
"Well that's interesting." Elle says under her breath as Jae looks around at the other boys.   
"So Mark and Jacks are vampires but what are the rest of you?" Jae asks and the boys exchange glances, shrugging.  
"JB is a kitsune, so is Yug. Youngjae is a banshee, BamBam an incubus and I'm a siren." Jinyoung explains, patting Jae’s shoulder with a chuckle when the blonde stares into the foreground, attempting to understand. Mark comes to stand beside Elle, the pair watching over Jae and Jinyoung as they talk.  
"Who all has he been 'introduced' to?" He asks, glancing at his boss.   
"Everyone but Kyla now." She replies, “He’s taking it pretty well, too.”   
"Does he know about the other side of it?" Mark asks cautiously, to which Elle shakes her head.   
"Not yet. I have to talk it over with the other boys." She explains and Mark nods in agreement.   
“Jae. Are you staying with us?” BamBam asks after a while and Jae shrugs, uncertain.   
“If I’m allowed I will. You’ve been to my apartment, Bam, you know how shitty it is.” Jae jokes, looking over to Elle for an answer.  
“Pretty sure Brian and Sungjin would find a way to skin me if I turned you out.” She grins, and Jae agrees with a nod and a chuckle.  
“That’s true. I can stay in one of their rooms if it’s easier.” Jackson and Mark snort at Jae’s comment with Elle shaking her head vigorously.   
“You don’t want to do that, kid.” She declares, “Brian and Shyla share a room, so do Dopil and Sungjin is not alone in his room either.” She shudders at the memories of walking into their rooms without knocking. Jae gags in disgust at the thought, shaking his head firmly.  
“I can sleep in the infirmary.” He offers and Elle rolls her eyes at his stupidity.   
“Or you could pick one the fifty fucking rooms in this damned house and shut up.” She says, making the boys turn to stare at her.  
“Language, boss. You are a lady.” BamBam tells her, something like mock offense in his voice.  
“Lady my ass, kid, and you know it.” She retorts, “Anyway, come on Jae. I’ll show you around the house more so you can pick a room.” Jae waves to his friends as she leads him back into the rest of the house.  
After a quick tour, and Jae picking a room, the pair made their way down to the kitchen, where it seemed most people had congregated.  
“Hey boss. Ky will be back tomorrow.” Sungjin informs her as she walks in and she nods, heading for the fridge.   
“Great. She should have news from Jamia then right?” She asks, he nods, continuing to cook some kind of meat.  
“Smells good, Jin.” Jinyoung comments as he and the other six boys wander into the kitchen. “Thanks, bro. I made enough for everyone.” Sungjin grins as he gestures to a pile of meat on a plate.   
“Of course you did.” Jackson says playfully and Sungjin just chuckles.   
“Well let the human eat first.” Yugyeom says and everyone turns to look at Jae, who frowns, flipping the youngest boy off.  
“Eomma, Jae is being mean.” Yugyeom whines to the eldest vampire in the house, who laughs.  
“Well you were kind of mean to him too, Yug. He doesn’t call you kitsune does he?” Elle scolds, Yugyeom ducks his head in embarrassment. “That’s what I thought, Yugy. Go ahead and eat, Jae.” She gestures to the plate of meat, accepting a plate from Brian who was passing them around.  
“Thanks, Bri.” He says, grabbing a piece of meat and finds a place to perch on the counter. He observes the others as he eats, smiling to himself as they laugh and tell jokes.   
“They all came at different times but they became a family rather quickly.” Elle says, suddenly standing beside him, making him jolt and nearly fall off the counter. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” She apologized, still chuckling at his reaction.  
“What do you mean they came at different times?” Jae continues to eat, though Elle grows quiet beside him.  
“I was alone for a long time, travelling or hiding away, but a few years ago, I thought it would be better if I rejoined society. Sungjin found me first, not long after his grandmother died, during his senior year of high school.” Jae nods absently at the memory of the old woman’s funeral. “He was looking through her books and found this address, but I was the only one here when he arrived. I helped him with his magic, like I did for his grandmother a long time ago, and he took the place of healer here.” Sungjin’s laugh erupts through the kitchen at a joke Jackson makes. “Brian was next, he was having a hard time controlling his shape for a while, all the stress of school and life, so Sungjin and I helped him. That was only two months after Sungjin got here and like always, with Brian comes Shyla.” The pair watch Shyla and Brian as they eat, Shyla in his lap as always and the pair talking quietly to Dopil. “Wonpil and Dowoon came shortly there after, having just been bitten and left to die. We nursed them back to health, taught them to fight, how to hunt and they haven’t left since.” Elle lets out a quiet chuckle, “That was near the end of their senior year of high school and the other boys came somewhere between their freshman and sophomore year of college.” She finishes her story and Jae sits quietly for a moment, taking it all in. He remembers when Sungjin’s grandmother died, when Brian didn’t come to school for two weeks because he was sick, the way Shyla had dodged his questions about her boyfriend, and when Dopil were gone for almost a month their senior year of high school.   
“How did I not know what was going on?” He wonders aloud. “I went to high school and college with them, we were so close. I’m so stupid.” He sighs, and she smacks his arm lightly.  
“You’re not stupid.” She assures him “They are just really good at hiding things. Wait that sounds really bad.” She mumbles the last part but Jae hears it anyway.   
“No it doesn’t sound bad. I’m just a human after all, can’t trust me with those kinds of secrets.” He replies bitterly, jumping off the counter to put his plate in the sink and leaving the kitchen without another word.  
“You okay, eomma?” Wonpil asks quietly, though most in the room can hear him.  
“Of course, Pillie. I’m gonna head to bed though. It’s been a long day.” She smiles at those in the room before walking towards the exit.  
“Okay. We’ll clean up. Goodnight.” Dowoon says and she leaves the kitchen with a chorus of goodnights.   
As she passes Jae’s room, the sound of erratic breathing and an out of control heartbeat fill her with worry. She pauses outside his room, knocking on the door in hopes of a response. None comes.  
“Jae?” She calls quietly, pushing open the door and looking around the dark room for him. When she spots him, she can’t help but hate the sight. He’s curled in on himself by the bed, hands grabbing at his hair as he breathes frantically. She understands what’s happening immediately. “Jae,” She begins, closing the door behind her as she ventures towards him. “I need you to breathe sweets,” She comes to sit in front of him, still unable to fully grab his attention. “Hey, you gotta work with me, darling.” She places her hands over his, pushing her fingers between his, making his gaze snap up to her. His eyes are wide and brimmed with tears, but she smiles at him anyway, making a show of breathing deeply to get him to do the same. Slowly, she manages to pull his hands from his hair, hopefully saving his scalp from too much damage. His heart is still pounding as his breathing begins to even out, now mostly shaking. “Do you want to talk about it?” She asks after a few moments of quiet, giving his heart a chance to finish slowing down.   
“I started thinking about how I was stupid for not noticing the things my friends were going through in school,” He starts, sighing, and wiping at his face, “Which somehow lead to me thinking about how I could have died earlier if you hadn’t come to my rescue, and it set me off.” He stares at his hand, which was still enveloped by her smaller one. “I’m sorry you had to see that, but thank you, for helping me.” She chuckles at his apology, making him look up at her.  
“Like I said earlier, you weren’t stupid, you were going through things of your own. They would have told you, if they thought you could handle it, but it’s a lot to comprehend. It isn’t your fault, Jae.” She assures him, “Don’t apologize for having a panic attack either, you can’t help it. Do has them every once in a while, when the nightmares get too bad.” She muses, almost sadly, and Jae frowns at her words.  
“Do has nightmares?” He asks, and she answers with a nod.  
“Yeah, about the attack, although, it’s never himself that’s the one hurt. It's almost always about what happened to Wonpil.” Jae’s frown deepens, but as he opens his mouth to ask, Elle shakes her head. “I can’t tell you anymore, Jae, it's not my place. You’ll have to ask Pillie or Do, they’re the only ones who can tell you.” She explains, standing slowly and helping Jae to his feet. “Get some rest, kid. I’ll see you tomorrow night.” Jae nods and stands to climb into bed.   
The next night, Jae is startled awake by a loud commotion in the hallway, prompting him to jump out of bed and yank open the door. A laugh escapes him as he watches Brian chase a small black bird with a broom. The bird makes its way to Sungjin, landing on his shoulder and earning what could only be described as a loving gaze from the man.   
“Hey babe.” Sungjin greets it, and Jae can’t help but snort.  
“I knew that witches had a thing about crows, Jin but don’t you think bestiality takes it too far?” Jae asks, earning a snort from Brian and a roll of the eyes from Sungjin. The aforementioned crow swoops down, landing in front of Jae and looking up at him, before aggressively pecking him in the shin. He lets out a strangled yelp of pain, then watches as the bird flies back to Sungjin, lands on his shoulder, and proceeds to turn into a woman.  
“Peter, Paul and Mary! I’m going down!” Sungjin cries as the two of them fall to the floor. “You could warn me next time, Kyla. You know I hate when you do that.” Sungjin scolds halfheartedly, staring at the girl for a moment before kissing her cheek. The girl wrapped around him just giggles, finally looking up at Jae.  
“Hi, I’m Kyla, Jinnie’s girlfriend, and a crow demon.” She grins at Jae, who can only roll his eyes.  
“Figured as much.” Jae shrugged “Wait Sungjin has a girlfriend? I thought he only loved food.” Brian and Shyla’s laughter echoes off the walls while Sungjin just glares at him.  
“Fuck off, Jaehyung.” Sungjin practically growls, making Jae laugh at him.  
“Oooh bro, you got full-named.” Wonpil’s voice comes from behind him, and he can only nod in agreement.  
“Anyway, I’m hungry as hell.” Jae complains, though a smile remains on his face, even as he walks to the kitchen. Despite the events that actually led to him being in this house, Jae was happy to be able to see his friends acting freely around him. Walking into the kitchen, he finds Elle slaving away at the stove.  
“Evening Jae, what was the thump?” She greets, gaze still firmly fixed on her work.   
“I met Kyla. She changed while sitting on Jin, and down they went.” Elle chuckles, turning to the fridge to grab bacon. “Can vampires eat real food?” Jae word vomits, mouth snapping shut as soon as the words are out. “I’m sorry, I just-” She cuts his apology off with a laugh.  
“Don’t worry Jae, I’ve been expecting questions like that since we met. It doesn’t really matter what we eat as long as we also have blood on a regular basis.” He nods, and she finally turns to him. “So, what do you want to do tonight?” Jae can only shrug.  
“I was hoping to pick up my guitar before work tonight.” She stares at him curiously for a minute.  
“You play guitar?” He nods again, earning a small hum, “Where do you work?”   
“The record store on 5th.” He makes his way to the cabinet Brian had pulled plates from the night previous, mind too focused on food to discuss work further. “How many plates do you think we need?” He glanced over at her, finding her to be focused on the bacon once again.   
“Jin, Ky, Bri, Shy, Pil and Do.” She pauses her cooking to count out the couples on her fingers. “Plus us, so eight.” They nod in unison and Jae busies himself with preparing the table. It takes only minutes before everyone else trickles in, following the smell of coffee and bacon.  
“You made breakfast, boss?” Kyla asks, almost incredulously, once seated securely on Sungjin’s lap. Shyla and Brian mirror them in the next seat over.  
“Yes, Ky, I do it every now and again, when I’m not busy. Speaking of business,” Elle turns fully to the table, watching the bird demon. “What happened with Jamia yesterday?” Her sentence is punctuated with a bite of bacon and Kyla holding up her finger, finishing her mouthful before speaking.  
“Jamia said it depends on how the meeting with the Shin twins goes.” Kyla responds with a nod, before stuffing her face again, and Jae can see why Sungjin would have fallen for her.  
“Damn it.” Elle growls, the silence in the room being broken by her fist slamming into the table. Automatically, both Brian and Shyla place their hands on her.   
“It’ll work out, boss.” Brian assures her, and Shyla nods along with his words.”Besides, I’m more concerned about the meeting with Marcos, than the twins.” Brian confessed. “He really rubbed me the wrong way when I met with him the other day.” His statement causes Elle’s glare to morph into one of curiosity.  
“What do you mean?” Brian could only shrug, his and Shyla’s hands retracting.  
“I don’t know, Elle.” Brian mused, accepting a bite of bacon from Shyla, “He just gave off a weird vibe, not like last time. Then he says he wants an in person meeting with you. He’s never had a problem just dealing with me before.” Brian almost pouts his last sentence, earning a pat on the head from his girlfriend. Elle stares distantly a moment, eyes slowly widening as she realized the implications.  
“It’s a trap.” She mumbles, Brian’s wide eyed gaze snapping to her, “Its a fucking trap.”  
“Wait a trap?” Wonpil’s confusion is evident, even around an entire piece of bacon. “Why would Marcos want to trap us?”   
“Well for anything really.” Sungjin begins, “Territory, less competition, people. I mean you and Dowoon are two of the best in the country.” His answer and look of worry at the younger boy does nothing to quell anyone’s fear.   
“Let’s just wait it out, see what happens.” Elle offers, earning nods from everyone except the very confused Jae, who doesn’t even know the question he doesn’t have the answer to.   
Once breakfast is over, which meant Shyla and Brian cleaning their plates before disappearing unnoticed, Kyla and Sungjin shoveling food into their mouths at record speed before dashing away and Wonpil and Elle leaving not long after the conversation ended in order to talk, its only Jae and Dowoon left in the kitchen. Together the pair clean up the room, Jae doing dishes and Dowoon putting them away. Once finished, Jae explains his plan to the younger boy, who simply nods, leaving Jae to his own devices in favor of locating Wonpil.  
According to google maps, he isn’t far from his apartment, so he opts to walk alone, making a left at the end of the driveway. He would however, immediately regret this decision. Less than a block from the house, a black, windowless van pulls up alongside Jae, who, acting on impulse, stops walking. He barely has time to react before the back door flies open and two burly men are coming towards him. He only manages a few steps towards the house before he’s being grabbed by the back of the shirt and pulled towards the vehicle. He struggles as much as he can, but before he gets the chance to call for help, there’s a sharp pain in the back of his head, and the world goes dark.   
He doesn’t know what time it is, or where he is when he wakes up, but he does know his head fucking hurts. He isn’t really shocked when he realized he’s tied to a chair, or that there's someone watching him.   
“Fuck, couldn’t you have chloroformed me or something? Getting hit in the head hurts man.” He practically whines, rolling his head side to side to ease the pain.   
“I’m sure you know why you’re here.” Is the man’s response, and Jae can only stare at him questioningly.   
“Uhhh, wait. You kidnap me and expect me to just know why” He scoffs at the man, who is still standing in the shadows.   
“We know you work for the biggest mafia in the country.” The man says sounding fed up.   
“Naw I work at a music store,” Jae grins, but realization settles in his brain a moment later. “Wait, those weirdos are a mafia?” The man steps forward, and two others enter the room shortly after.  
“Stop fucking around, kid.” The original one growls. ”Tell us what your boss is planning, and we’ll go easy on you.” The man’s threats are short lived as Jae hears a sound that, shockingly, reassures him.   
Creepy giggles.  
Jae can only sigh as the men frantically search around the room to find its source.   
“So are you just here to giggle, or are you my rescue team?” Jae asks, then men seem some mixture of confused and scared as they continue their search.  
“Are you kidding? I thought we already established I’m a spy.” Jae clicks his tongue at her, though he grins immediately after.  
“Best in the bizz, but I could really use some help.”   
“Yeah you could.”  
"My other option is death." He shrugs, and a second later she’s landing in front of him, clad in a jet black catsuit, with her hands on her hips. He can see them men behind her jump in fright.  
"No." She chastises, smacking Jae on the forehead.   
"Holy shit! Where did she come from?" One of the men exclaims as Shyla grins at Jae, who rolls his eyes at his friend. She offers him a wink, pulling his glasses off his face.  
“So they don’t get broken.” She whispers, and behind her, one of the men pulls a knife. “Gotta blast.” She disappears with a giggle and a wink, making Jae roll his eyes again.  
“Where the fuck did she go?” One of the men asks, fear lacing his voice.   
“Do you see what I have to deal with?” Jae explodes, earning their attention again. “She turned into a fucking spider, a spider! I’ve known her for years, she’s been dating my best friend for years! And he’s a goddamn shapeshifter.” Jae is sure he sounds absolutely crazy. “All of my friends are some kind of weird supernatural thing. Don’t even get me started on the insanely attractive girl who's old enough to be my great great great grandmother. And is a goddamned vampire!” Jae’s chest heaves as he finishes his spiel. “I probably shouldn’t be telling you any of this, but something tells me, you’re all going to die soon anyway.” Jae offers them a crazed laugh before all emotion drops from his face. “You’re in for a rough fucking ride when they get here.” Jae makes eye contact with each of the men, who stare at him shocked. Finally one snaps out of his stupor, stepping forward to slam his fist into Jae’s face, and Jae is thankful Shy took his glasses.  
“Tell us what your boss is planning.”   
“Ow. She’s not my boss. She’s just this really hot lady who saved me and my friends.” Jae replies, deadpan, not even a little shocked when he’s hit again.  
He isn’t sure how long it goes on, the times between beatings seem to lengthen every time, but his refusal to answer their questions with something that isn’t a snarky reply remains.  
“Man, if you think this is ever going to crack me, you didn’t do your research.” Jae groans, “You act like this is my first beating, or my first kidnapping.” He chuckles. “I’ve taken better beatings from idiots at bars.” Jae punctuates his insult by spitting blood onto the man’s shoe. For a moment the pair only stare at each other, before Jae offers the man a bloodstained smile. “Will you just kill me already?” Jae’s answer is someone smacking him on the back of the head.  
“How many times does your depressed ass have to be told no before you listen?” Mark’s voice echoes from behind him, before a gunshot rings out and his interrogator is collapsing on the floor.  
“I can dream, Mark. How long have I been gone this time?” Someone cuts the zip ties on his wrists and Jae brings them up to discover how bloody they are. “Gross.”  
“Three days, bro.” Jackson answers and Jae isn’t sure how to respond, mind mostly moving towards the thoughts of food.  
“Damn. What took so long?” Jae stands on shaking legs, which prompts Jackson to step up next to him, slinging one of Jae’s arms over his shoulder. Jae would never admit it, but he was thankful.  
“Shyla got injured on the way back and didn’t wake up til this morning.” Mark answers, wincing at the sight of Jae’s battered and bloody face.  
“Is she okay?” Mark nods, leading them through the shitty shack full of dead goons, and to the waiting car.. “That’s good. What about everyone else?” Jae asks as Jackson helps him into the back seat of his Charger.   
“Dowoon won’t talk to anyone that isn’t Wonpil, who hasn’t stopped crying since yesterday. Sungjin’s been freaking out about Shyla, Brian’s been beyond out of his mind, first his best friend disappears then his girlfriend ends up comatose for a few days. The other boys have been keeping an eye on Elena and protecting the house.” Jackson says as he climbs into the driver seat and Jae frowns. “Hence us picking you up.”  
“All because I was gone for three days?” He watches Jackson roll his eyes in the rearview mirror, and Mark turns to look at him from the passenger seat.  
“Do you not remember college? When you disappeared for a month and we all thought you were dead?.” Jae grimaces at the memory, but can understand the reaction.  
“It wasn’t that bad this time.” He tries to sound cheerful. “I mean the only thing that’s broken is probably my nose, and I haven’t lost that much blood.” Mark can only shake his head, a small smile on his lips, and the car falls silent. Jackson takes the lead back home, with Mark supporting Jae as they walked through the house. In the infirmary, they find Elle waiting for them, arms crossed over her chest.  
“Jesus.” Sungjin is the first to speak after too long of a silence settles over the room. “You look like shit.”  
“This isn’t as bad as last time, Jin.” Jae reminds him, letting Mark discard him on a bed. Sungjin’s in front of him in a second, setting his hand over Jae’s nose.  
“You aren’t leaving the house alone again.” Elle says, and Jae lets out a small hiss as his nose shifts back into place.  
“That’s fine. Once Jin’s done here, we need to talk.” Jae states, lifting his hands for Sungjin to look at and staring down the vampire.   
It doesn’t take Sungjin long to finish up with Jae, and before long Jae’s following Elle back to her office where Brian and Shyla are waiting. “They asked about my boss, said I worked for the country's biggest mafia, and something tells me it's you.” Jae doesn’t look at the others, not until Shyla is pressing his glasses into his palm, which earns her a small bow as she boosts herself back up onto the edge of Elle’s desk. “They kept asking what my boss was planning.” He continues, wiping his glasses off on his shirt, before finally putting them back on. “Seeing as I didn’t know anything, I stayed mostly quiet.” He leans on the wall, observing the others who were glancing among themselves, Brian gripping Shy’s hand as he refuses to look at his friend. “I got my ass beat about something I didn’t even know. Now I want answers.” Everyone is quiet, even Shyla, which Jae finds interesting.  
“Did you see anything about your captors?” Brian asks after a silent moment, and Jae finds the tone his voice has taken on to be much darker than he’s used to.   
“Like what?”  
“Any piercings, tattoos, body mods, something that would make them stick out.” Shyla explains, gaze hard, but refusing to look at Jae.   
“One of ‘em, he was only there for a short while, he had a weird skull tattoo behind his ear.” Jae shakes his head slightly. “Why didn’t you tell me about all this?” He asks his best friend, who can only look away from him in shame. Shyla places her hand on Brian’s, finally looking at Jae.   
“It wasn’t our place.” She tells him, glancing over at Elle. Jae follows suit, shifting to look at the vampire who seems to be studying her own desk.   
“So why didn’t you tell me?” She looks up at him, and sighs quietly, unable to hold his gaze.  
“We were going to, when you got home from work that day, but, well…” Elle gestures to Jae, “Too little, too late.” Jae nods, understanding, before flopping into one of the chairs in the room.  
“Of course, I can’t escape this shit.” He sighs, rubbing his hand down his face.   
“What do you mean?” It’s Brian who voices everyone’s question, and Jae looks up to find all three of them staring at him, confused.  
“Junior year of college, when I was gone for a month and everyone thought I was dead?” Brian visibly gulps at the memory and Shyla’s face hardens.  
“I remember,” Brian nods, pulling Shyla a little closer to him, “It was awful, we all felt so powerless.”  
“Worst month of this life.” Shyla mutters and Jae doesn’t actually want to know what that means.   
“Wonpil wouldn’t stop crying for days after I came back, I thought we were going to end up fuzed with how close he stayed,” Jae smiles at the memory of the young wolf. “But do you wanna know why I was taken?” Brian and Shy nod eagerly, making Jae chuckle before he answers. “Well lets just say that while you guys were doing whatever it was you were doing to make money in college, I had to resort to less than legal means to pay tuition. Wrong place, right time, ended up running for the South Side, somehow I fucked up and got caught. North side’s son, I think. Guy beats the shit out of me until I got through the rope.” He can’t help but grin, partly in pride at the memory of his most bad ass moment, partly at the shocked faces his friends had.   
“How?” Shyla asks and Jae can only give her a wink, the same way she had days prior.  
“We all have our secrets.”  
“Why didn’t you tell any of us?” Brian is hurt, but Jae can only shrug.  
“I’m shocked you never figured it out. I was always coming back to the dorm super late, or when I’d be gone all weekend for no reason, or the fact I’d always have rent, despite working at that shit coffee shop.” There’s no humor in the laugh Jae emits. “It was dangerous, and I didn’t want any of my friends involved, besides,” Jae looks up fully, locking eyes with his best friend. “I think I earned my own secrets, yeah?” Brian stands forcefully, making Jae do the same. Elle stands quickly, expecting to have to end a fight, but when Shyla puts a hand on her arm, offering the woman a shake of the head, she sits back down. For a moment there's a silent standoff, before Brian is surging forward to engulf his friend in a hug.   
“You have no idea how happy I am that you’re okay and alive.” Brian confesses quietly, and Jae pats his head reassuringly, “Promise me, no more secrets?” Brian asks, pulling away.  
“Promise.” Jae nods, allowing Shyla to slam into him for a hug next. He barely pays the spider woman any mind, instead looking to Elle, “So, what are we gonna do now?” Elle stares at him, eyes wide, unsure. “They’re after you, not me, so what are we gonna do?” Elle’s expression hardens as she snaps herself out of her thoughts.  
“We need to gather everyone, and have a meeting, I want everyone’s opinion.” She decides those in the room nod, and Jae follows Brian and Shyla to the door. “Jae?” Elle’s voice stops him before he can get to the door. He turns back, letting the other two go ahead, and finds her looking at him worried. “Are you really okay?” She asks the blonde, who chuckles and shrugs.   
“Yeah, boss. I’m fine.”Jae replies, a smile pulling on his lips at her shocked reaction, “Where are we meeting?”  
“Kitchen.” She shakes herself out of her thoughts, but keeps her quizzical gaze on him, “Are you sure you’re human, Jae?” Jae lets out a too loud laugh at her question, turning back to the door.   
“Last time I checked, Elle,” He spins back to her once outside the door, a strange smile on his face. “But we can always have Sungjin check.” He grins as he walks down the hallway toward the kitchen.   
The first thing Jae encounters upon entering the kitchen, is a sobbing Wonpil, who latches himself onto Jae, reminding him of a few years back. Jae understands immediately, wrapping his arms around the younger boy, his chin resting on the top of his head.   
“I was so scared we were gonna lose you.” Wonpil sobs into Jae’s chest which makes Jae’s heart swell a little, and he smiles softly, face hidden in the younger man’s hair.  
“I won’t do it again, Pillie. I promise, plus Elle grounded me. I’m not allowed to leave the house alone.” Jae mumbles into Wonpil’s ear and the younger boy starts giggling. “Do you feel better, pup?” Jae asks and Wonpil’s eyes widen just a bit before he nods and pulls away only to be replaced by Dowoon. Jae is still hugging the young wolf when Elle walks in, which pulls a small chuckle from her. Dowoon pulls away at the sound, ears painted red in embarrassment.   
“So Jae, want to fill everyone in?” Elle says once Brian had returned with Jackson and the others. Jae spends a few moments recounting his exciting adventures in being kidnapped multiple times, all while nonchalantly leaning on the wall. The group stares at him in mild shock for a few moments, before Shyla finally breaks the building silence.   
“I have an irrelevant question that is unimportant.” She begins, clearing her throat.  
“What?” Elle seems to be ignored as Shyla’s strange gaze settles on Jae, and he can’t tell if she’s impressed or confused.   
“Who are you and what have you done with my awkward little buddy?” Jae breaks into whole hearted laughter at her words, with several of the others joining.   
“This is what happens when people get the shit beat out of them for secrets they don’t know, Shyla.” Jae replies with a wicked grin. Shyla only blinks at him silently a few times before a pair of giant mandibles are erupting out of her mouth to click at him.   
“You mad, bro?” She hisses, earning a look of genuine disgust and horror from her friends.   
“That’s fucking gross.” He informs her, “And I am mad, but not at any of you, more myself and the dicks who kidnapped me.” Jae replies to his spider friend, and she simply clicks at him.   
“Babe, quit. You’re grossing people out.” Brian taps Shyla’s arm and nods toward BamBam and Yugyeom, who are looking at her in disgust. Bambam slowly raises his arm, pointing a can of Raid at her, and tapping the button in two short bursts. She just winks at them with a giggle, and the mandibles are gone a second later.   
“What are we going to do, boss? Since we don’t know who’s after us.” Jaebeom asks, looking for guidance from the oldest member of the household.   
“We wait.” Elle decides, “We wait and we get ready for whatever comes. I have a meeting with the Shin twins in two days and with Marcos in four. In the meantime, keep your guard up.” Elle finishes with a nod, and the group disperses to do other things, like worry.   
“You’re not going alone, right? I mean with more than Brian.” Jae asked, following her as they began their walk to the infirmary.   
“It’s usually just Brian and I, which means Shy’s there too, but you’re right. Someone should come with.” Elle agrees, allowing Jae to pause to hold the door open for her.   
“What do you two want?” Sungjin asks, peering over the edge of his book at them.   
“Elle wants to make sure I’m human. I mean the last time I checked I was but” Jae shrugs, “I’m stupid, so will you check for me, Jin?” Jae gets only a few seconds to grin before he’s being smacked by both of them. Jae chuckles, dropping onto the bed he vacated the other day, as Sungjin pulled up a chair. “So how’s this work, Jinnie? You gonna mind meld with me?”  
“Shut up, Nerd. I’m going to reach out with my magic. Everything that’s supernatural, or inhuman has magic, if you have some, I’ll be able to tell what kind.” Sungjin’s explanation makes Jae fall serious, which confuses Elle. The boys close their eyes, and Elle can only watch quietly until Sungjin’s eyes snap open to stare at Jae.  
“What’s with the look?”Jae asks, “I’m special, huh?”  
“Yeah special fucking ed.” Jin replies immediately, making the others chuckle, but falls serious a moment later. “But, yeah, you’re something. Some kind of fae I’ve never seen. There was so much energy in you that it was hard to look at.” He blinks at Jae a few more times before turning to his boss.   
Jae grows quiet, gaze falling to his hands as he takes in what Sungjin said. To be honest, boss, I would take him with you to the meetings this week. Elle nods at Sungjin’s suggestion, eyes still on Jae, whose face has morphed into a frown.   
“Jae? You okay?” She asks, and his head snaps up.   
“Probably,” He breathes, “I think I need to call my mom.” The other two glance at each other, eyes wide in realization.   
“Yeah. I think that’s a good idea.” Sungjin agrees. Jae says nothing else, only bowing to the pair before leaving the room.   
“What’s that about?” Elle inquires, looking to Sungjin as he stands, a strange look in his eyes.   
“Jae never met his dad, only grew up with his mom. All he knows about the man is that he died shortly before Jae was born. Mom always said it was an accident” He tells her, and her heart seizes at his story, “That he was supposed to come home.”  
It takes only an hour and a half before Elle has nothing better to do than pace the length of her office.   
“You always pace like this? All this thinking’s gonna wear a hole in the floor.” Jae’s comment has Elle stopping in her tracks, finding him leaning on the doorway.   
“I only do this when something’s eating me.”She sighs, plastering on a smile, “How’d it go with your mom?”  
“Well, I asked about my dad, she tried giving me the usual, but I told her what Sungjinnie found.” Jae begins, dropping into a chair. “Turns out he was a fae prince, he was executed because he fell for a human, and had a kid with her. Mom thought, hoped, I was normal. I always seemed normal.” He finishes with a small huff, “Never showed any signs.”  
“Many human raised fae don’t. The ones I know had to go soul searching for their powers.” Elle offers, leaning on her desk.   
“Of course they do.” He huffs, “Problem is, we don’t have time for me to do that.” He glances up at her and watches her shrug.   
“You do, but you don’t.” She pauses a moment, thinking hard. “I want to try something, follow me.” She straightens up, heading to the door in search of someone. She finds Wonpil in the kitchen, staring hard at a glass of water.. “Pillie, I need you to do something for me.” She startles the boy out of his reverie and he nods.  
“What’s up, boss?” Wonpil asks, downing the glass.  
“Take Jae out to the courtyard and help him find his magic.” Elle grins as Wonpil looks between the pair, clearly shocked.   
“What? Wait, has he been to the courtyard before?” Wonpil’s confusion is obvious, so is his concern. "Are you sure, Eomma?" She offers him a wink.   
"Trust me, Pillie, you won’t hurt him.” She assures him, “And I’ll be there just in case.”  
"Alright.” He stands, nodding. “Let’s do this.”   
"Hey Pil. I wanna ask you something after this." Jae glances at the younger boy who only nods, leading him out the back door. Elle takes a seat on one of the stone benches lining the courtyard, watching Wonpil lead Jae to the center of the circle.   
“The courtyard is usually used for training, or punishment. Sungjin made it nearly soundproof, so it’s also ideal for meditation, which is what we are going to do, see if you can’t find what it is you’re looking for.” Wonpil informs the older man, who glances around the silent yard before plopping himself onto the ground. The pair sit across from each other, legs crossed, and together they close their eyes.   
Elle watches in quiet shock for well over an hour, unaware Jae could even sit still this long. As she watches them, she can feel the changes as Jae soul searches, the way the air seems to still, the hum of static that buzzes in her ears, almost as if there’s a storm about to erupt from the young man. Her gaze, which had moved to the clear sky, drifts back down to Jae as a glow begins seeping from his skin. She watches the glow flow into his veins, and slowly drift up to his eyes, which snap open, glowing a brilliant gold. When he blinks a moment later, the glow is gone, and he’s breathless.   
“Woah.” He breathes, looking back to Elle. “Did you see that?” She nods, a smile on her face.   
“How do you feel?” Wonpil asks, and Jae only grins.   
“Different, it’s like, I dunno, I’m more aware, like I can feel this energy.”   
“That’s why I had Pillie bring you here, that circle marks a cross section of ley lines, the Earth’s veins of magic. You’ve essentially bypassed all the capillaries and stuck your hand in an artery.”  
“Woah, hey you said you’ve known others like me. What could they do?” Elle pauses, thinking for a moment.   
“Mostly telekinetic things, some had enhanced capabilities, one of them could see for miles.” Jae pulls off his glasses at this, squinting into the distance.   
“Yeah no, not that, I actually think my eyesight got worse.”   
“Well everyone is different, why don’t you test it out?” Jae nods, glancing around the courtyard, his eyes land on discarded ball, probably from some soccer game, and he smirks. For the next few moments he practices with the ball, bouncing it and tossing it around and before long, the brightly colored ball is zipping around the space, much to Wonpil’s amusement.  
“Hey Wonpil, fetch.” Jae calls jokingly, and to his shock Wonpil begins to shimmer and seconds later a large russet wolf is standing in his place. Jae is stuck for a moment, captivated by the large beast before Wonpil is bounding towards him, tail wagging happily. “Man, you are beautiful.” Jae gasps, making Elle chuckle. Throw the damn ball Jae! Jae jumps at the voice in his head, looking around frantically as the ball drops. Wonpil sits down dejected, staring at Jae curiously. I said throw it. “What the hell is that?” Jae asks, turning to Elle.   
“Supernatural beings that consider each other family, pack, coven, whatever, can communicate telepathically.” She explains. “Now be nice and play fetch with the poor lad, before Dowoon decides to join too.” Jae nods, and the ball picks back up, making Wonpil’s tail thump against the cobblestones. Elle watches the boys play fetch for a few moments before coming up with an idea. Pillie, try rushing Jae, I want to know how he reacts during conflict.  
Are you sure? What if I hurt him?  
Sungjin’s still here. Wonpil lets out a chuff, one that almost sounds like a laugh and he turns away from the ball to look at Jae, whose now focused on a small tornado of leaves he’s created. It takes only two bounds before he’s jumping for Jae, except he never reaches his target. Wonpil instead flips over the wide-eyed man, landing on his back behind him. His paws flail in the air but he remains firmly on his back, now looking at Jae in shock.   
“What’s wrong, Pil?” Elle calls.   
I can’t move.   
“What the hell was that for?” Jae asks, and Wonpil finally is allowed to flip over.   
“I had him go at you, I want to see if you can’t fight with those powers.”   
“Oh, looks like I can.” He turns back to the wolf as Elle stands, a smirk on her lips. She speeds towards him, dead silent, but can’t make it within a few feet of him before she’s unable to move. Wonpil lets out a noise of shock, sitting to look at his boss, while Jae turns back to her nonchalantly. “I kinda figured you’d attack. Most supernaturals rely on silence and speed to kill, it would make sense to test me on both brute strength style attacks, and the silent killer type.” He shrugs. She lets out a small laugh.   
“You know Jae, something tells me you wouldn’t have been able to guess that before.” He looks at her confused and suddenly she finds herself able to move again.   
“What do you mean?”  
“If I’ve learned anything about human born fae, it’s that the thing that changes most for them, is the thing they already relied on the most.” She taps the side of her head, “You’re coming with me to the meetings, I need to go tell Brian what’s up, and I believe you two need to talk.” She gives them both a wave, patting Wonpil’s muzzle as she heads back inside the house.   
“That was pretty awesome, dude, remind me never to get on your bad side.” Wonpil jokes once he’s human again. He and Jae take a seat on the bench Elle had vacated, neither speaking for a moment.   
“Hey, Pil. I’ve been wondering,” Jae trails off, unsure how to phrase his question.  
“About what happened to Do and I, how we became wolves?” Wonpil finishes for him. Jae only nods, earning a soft laugh from the younger boy. “Do and I used to really like going on late night walks, that night, it was a full moon. We were near the woods, not too far from here, and some guys, two or three of them, jumped out of the shadows and attacked us. One wolfed out, and went for Do right off the bat, probably cause he was bigger. I don’t remember a lot of it, but Do managed to get out with a couple scratches and a bite, I wasn’t so lucky.” Wonpil lifts his shirt slightly, showing a few scars on his chest. “Stabbed three times, and bit, though something tells me that last part was just for good measure.” Lowering his shirt, Wonpil sighs, “Dowoon was strong, fighting off the sickness, and the blood loss, he tried getting me to the hospital. He collapsed just outside of the house. Elle told us later she suddenly smelt so much blood she had to see what happened.” Jae remains silent, for once having no witty remark for his friend. “If she hadn’t taken us in, I know I’d at least be dead, maybe Do too.” Wonpil lets out a small laugh. “Do and I don’t have a traditional pack, Elle is our Alpha, other wolves,” He shakes his head. “You can imagine their reaction to us admiring a vampire, let alone admiring her enough to consider her an Alpha.”   
“So Do’s nightmares…”   
“Like I said, I don’t remember much of the attack, that makes me lucky, I guess. But Do, he remembers everything. The pain, thinking the one person he loved the most was going to die.” Jae’s heart clenches and he can only wrap his arms around the boy.   
“I’m so sorry, for both of you.” He mumbles, “I’m so thankful Elle saved you.”   
“If it hadn’t then I would still be weak and we wouldn’t have Eomma.” Jae pulls back to see Wonpil smiling and chuckles.   
“You were never weak, Pillie, its just now you’re even stronger, and harrier.” Jae’s comment makes them both laugh.  
“Thank you, hyung.”   
Two days pass and Jae finds a fantastic way to practice his magic: annoying Brian and Sungjin.  
“Park Jaehyung, stop throwing things at me!” Brian exclaims about twenty minutes before the trio, although foursome is you count in Shyla’s sneaking in, are supposed to be meeting the Shins.   
“I didn’t!” Jae protests halfheartedly which makes Shyla giggle, probably at Brian’s low growl.  
“Come on, you two.” Elle says, turning to Jae. “Quit using your magic to annoy Brian. I’m the one who has to hear him whine.” Jae laughs at Brian’s offended look but salutes Elle anyway.   
“How do you think I feel?” Shyla asks, voice echoing from Brian’s shirt pocket.  
“Babe!” Brian whines, climbing into the car.   
Jae catches sight of Elle rolling her eyes as they speed off.  
The trio enter the Pagoda a few minutes later, finding someone already waiting for them. They are led to a conference room on the fifth floor of the building and told to wait.   
“This is weird. I used to pass this building everyday on my way to work.” Jae mumbles to Brian, who nods as a man and a woman walk into the room.   
“Han, Mei Li.” Elle greets with a bow, “You remember Brian, and this is-”  
“Jaehyung, it has been a while hasn’t, love?” Elle is cut off by Mei Li, who is smiling at the man behind her. Brian has paused mid-bow, blinking in confusion at the floor.   
“Mei, what are you doing here?” Jae asks in shock causing the woman to laugh softly.   
“When I said we would see each soon, this is not what I meant, Jae.” Mei Li says with a smirk and Jae chuckles with a nod.   
“I bet. Anyway, we’ll talk later, Mei.” he nods his head toward the shocked Elle causing Mei Li to nod and turn back to the vampire in front of her.   
“How do you know her?” Brian whispers in Jae’s ear as Han and Mei Li agree to an alliance with Elle.   
“Do you remember our junior year of college? The Chinese girl that I was interested in but decided we were better as friends? That’s her.” Jae nods toward Mei Li and grins at Brian’s look of shock. “We kept in contact and hang out sometimes. I didn’t realize that every time she would rush off it was because she was doing this. I should’ve known though everyone I hung out with in college was shifty at best.” Jae grins as Brian sticks his tongue out at him.   
“So how did you get involved with Elena, Jae?” Mei Li asks, drawing Jae’s attention from Brian.  
“She saved my life a while back plus she lives with Jin, Pil, Bri and Do. How did you get involved with this?” Jae asks in return and Han laughs at his straightforwardness.   
“We took over when our father died. Baba would not be happy about what’s been going on though.” Han says casually and Jae raises his eyebrow in question.   
“What do you mean? What’s going on?” he glances between the twins for a second before one of them speaks.   
“We’ve had shipments going missing and we don’t know who is doing it. At first we thought it was Marcos cause he’s done it before but then we found this.” Mei Li says pulling her phone from her pocket and showing Jae a photo of a skull. “What is it?” Mei Li and Elle ask at the same time as they watch Jae’s eyes widen.   
“That’s the symbol that was tattooed behind the ear of the guy who kidnapped me.” He glances from Elle to Brian as Mei Li looks at Jae in surprise.   
“You were kidnapped again? What is it with you?” She smacks his shoulder and he laughs.   
“At least they were five years apart, Mei.” He grins before glancing at Elle then back to the twins. “We should probably go. Will you do me a favor and send me what you have about this group?” He glances between the twins as they nod and he grins. “Awesome. I’ll call you later. Love you both.” He grins as he hugs the both of them and plants a kiss on both of their cheeks causing Han to make a sound of disgust. They hear Jae’s laughter all the way down the hallway and they both chuckle.   
Jae makes good on his promise to call Mei Li a couple hours later and they talk for a while before she warns him to be careful of Marcos.   
“What do you mean be careful of him, Mei?” He asks as he wanders into the kitchen for some water.   
“I don’t know what he’s planning but if Elena thinks this meeting is meant to be a trap then it very well may be.” Mei Li replies as Jae switches his phone to the other ear.   
“I’m pretty sure that you’re right. I remember how quickly things escalated when I was running in college but it’s crazy to find out how much worse the turf war has gotten.” Jae replies before taking a sip of his water and Mei Li is silent for a minute.   
“Who did you run for in college?” She asks suddenly, and Jae chuckles as he sets his water glass down on the counter.   
“South side.” He replies, opening the fridge to look for something to eat.   
“So my father.” Mei Li says quietly and Jae snorts loudly.   
“Probably. Anyway will you send me that file on the skull group?” He asks and Mei Li makes a noise of confirmation.   
“Yeah. I have to go anyway. I’ll email it to you. Let me know how the meeting with Marcos goes okay?” She says and Jae makes a noise of agreement before they hang up. When he gets the email notification on his cell phone, he goes and hunts down his laptop before opening it.   
“Hey Jae. Watcha doing?” Kyla sneaks up behind him as he’s sitting at the kitchen table researching the information Mei Li provided him with.   
“Hacking, Birdie. What are you doing?” Jae replies, eyes never straying from the codes and information on the screen.   
He spends a majority of the next two days in front of his computer doing research on both himself and the group that was after them. There wasn’t much in the file that Mei Li had sent him but he found out through his hacking that they were an elite group of hunters hiding under the guise of being a Russian mob.   
“Hey are you still going today?” Dowoon asks upon finding the elder still seated at the kitchen table.   
“Yeah. I’m about to go get ready to go.” Jae replies, closing his laptop and taking it upstairs with him.   
“I remember you.” The short Italian man says as Jae enters the conference room behind Elle and Brian.   
“I think you have me confused with someone else.” Jae says politely before sitting down between Brian and Elle.   
“No, I’m sure it was you my son kidnapped and beat the hell out of five years ago.” The man says with a smirk, watching as both Jae and Brian stiffen.   
“Marcos, that’s not fair. That was five years ago. We’re here about the present, not the past.” Elle warns him and Jae feels Brian’s hand on his thigh in comfort. Jae glances at Brian, who looks concerned for his friend, and shrugs in indifference. Marcos does not agree to an alliance with Elle, saying he already had something in the works and that she shouldn’t worry about it. He also tried pushing her for more information on her plans, which Jae found very suspicious but kept quiet about until they had gotten home.   
“He was acting really weird.” Elle says to Brian and Jae later that night in her office.   
“He kept pressing you for information about your plans.” Jae says glancing up from his laptop to Elle then back down.   
“What are you doing on that damn thing?” Brian asks seemingly irritated as Jae’s eyes flit over the screen before returning to Brian.   
“Research and hacking, Bri.” Jae grins at him as his eyes widen and Elle laughs.   
“You really didn’t know, Bri?” She asks as Brian shakes his head.   
“I did not. What are you even researching that’s taking you two days?” Brian asks incredulously, staring at Jae as he starts laughing.   
“I have been looking into lore but also the group that is after us.” Jae says suddenly serious causing Brian to look at him in surprise.   
"What have you found out?" Elle asks causing Jae's eyes flit to her.   
"They're called Zelus, an elite group of hunters that operate under the guise of a Russian mob." He informs the vampire and Brian gasps quietly.   
"They must want something because they would have dealt with us already if they didn't. We're the biggest group of supes in the state." Elle says causing Jae and Brian to nod.   
"I'm gonna have Pillie and Do teach me to fight. I wanna be ready for anything and somehow I don't think magic will be enough." Jae says and Elle nods in agreement.   
"That sounds like a good idea, Jae." He stands up and walks out of the room, laptop in hand. After almost a month of training, Jae is almost as good as Dowoon and Wonpil and has become a hundred times better with his magic. He lets Brian talk him into going out with him, Sungjin, Youngjae, BamBam and Jaebeom for a night because of it with Elle's permission of course. “Well now I know why it was so hard for me to get drunk in college.”Jae complains as they walk up the driveway just before Jaebeom gasps causing everyone to turn to him.   
“What?” BamBam asks as Jae follows his line of sight.   
“The door.” Jae mumbles and everyone turns to find the door hanging halfway off its hinges. The six of them rush inside to find the house in disarray and Jinyoung bleeding by the stairs.  
“Jinyoungie!” Jaebeom exclaims rushing to his best friend’s side. “He’s still alive.” Jaebeom turns to Sungjin, who nods and gestures for Jaebeom to pick Jinyoung up.   
“Take him to the infirmary.” Sungjin tells Jaebeom and follows the others into the next room.   
“We got another one over here.” BamBam says drawing Sungjin’s attention from the damage to the house to Dowoon, bleeding on the floor in front of the incubus.   
“Mark, Jackson and Wonpil are in here.” Youngjae calls from the kitchen and Sungjin gestures to BamBam to take Dowoon to the infirmary before heading into the kitchen.   
“What the hell happened?” Sungjin mutters to himself as Jaebeom comes into the kitchen. “JB, help Youngjae take those three to the infirmary, please.” Sungjin says and Jaebeom nods before picking up Mark and Wonpil.   
“Where’s Yug?” BamBam asks as he reappears in the kitchen and Sungjin shrugs before heading into the dining room where he finds Brian kneeling next an unconscious Yugyeom.   
“In here, Bam. Where’s Jae?” Sungjin calls out to BamBam before turning to Brian. Brian shrugs as he lifts Yugyeom from the floor and carries him to the infirmary with Sungjin right behind him. Jae, we're all heading down to the infirmary. Come down there when you're finished. Sungjin lets his thoughts float to the older man as he follows Brian into the infirmary. Jae comes into the room with his laptop a little while later.   
"The girls are gone." He says simply causing everyone to freeze and stare at him.   
"What do you mean gone?" Sungjin asks as he starts to heal Jinyoung and Jae looks at him, opening his mouth to say something only to be cut off by Youngjae's mouth falling open in a scream. Everyone turns to stare at the banshee as tears fill his eyes and his mouth falls closed.  
"Sungjin…." Youngjae sobs and Sungjin freezes before a look of sorrow takes over his features. "I'm sorry." The banshee whispers as Sungjin's head falls low. Before anyone can say anything to Sungjin, Youngjae screams again this time his eyes trained on Brian. When Youngjae’s mouth closes again, he slumps against Jaebeom with a sore throat and sobs. Jae watches Brian start to change and throws his arm out toward him, reversing the shift and placing Brian in a stasis.  
“What the hell?” Jaebeom asks Jae, who places his laptop on Sungjin’s desk and sits in front of it.   
“He looked mighty bear like so I put him in stasis to keep those of us who aren’t injured from being so. Youngjae is a banshee right?” Jae glances at Jaebeom then at BamBam, who both nod. “Screamer for death…” Jae begins to mumble about supernatural traits under his breath as he uses the codes Mei Li gave him to access the Shin twins’ database. He then hacks into Marcos’ database still mumbling under his breath, no one questions him as he sits there until Mark wakes up.   
“Where is Elle? What’s wrong with Brian and Youngjae?” Mark asks from beside Jae, who is hyper-focused on the codes running the length on his screen.   
“Zelus has her, Youngjae screamed for the deaths of Shyla and Kyla, Brian started to shift into a bear and to save us from further injuries, I put him in stasis.” Jae replies, without looking at the vampire.   
“Oh fuck. Should Sungjin be working?” Mark asks causing Jae to glance up at the witch healing Wonpil and nod.   
“It’s his way of coping.” Jae says before going back to his screen for a second. Suddenly, he looks up as if zoning out before whipping his head in Sungjin’s direction, startling the younger man. “You specialize in healing but are you good with other magics too?” Jae asks quickly and Sungjin looks taken aback for a second before nodding.   
“I’m good with destruction magic which is why I specialized in healing.” Sungjin’s reply causes Jae to grin wickedly.   
“Good.” Jae hums before looking back at his screen.   
“I don’t know what that means but I have a bad feeling about this.” Sungjin mutters under his breath as he finishes healing Yugyeom.   
“I have a plan.” Jae says after a while and everyone in the room turns to look at him as if he grew a second head. Brian, are you calm enough to come out of stasis? Jae asks his best friend soon getting a reply in the affirmative. He raises his hand in a wave and Brian sits up.   
“I didn’t like that. What’s your plan?” Brian asks the blonde, who sighs heavily.   
“After Youngjae screamed for Shyla, I realized how much I know about supernaturals and after taking into account everyone’s different abilities, mine included, I came up with a plan on how to get both Elle and the girl’s bodies back.” He starts, watching the skeptical looks fall across his friend’s faces.   
“We don’t even know where they are, Jae.” Jackson says and Jae shakes his head.   
“I do, Jacks. Did you think I was watching porn on that damn screen? No I was looking at Mei Li and Han’s database as well as hacking into Marcos’.” Jae argues with the vampire and Sungjin smacks himself in the forehead.   
“I forgot that you hack.” The witch tells his friend and Jae nods.   
“It seems that everyone does. Anyway they’re being held in one of Marcos’ warehouses on the outskirts of the city. I don’t think they’ll expect us to attack right away and they definitely won’t expect us to attack all at once.” Jae continues, watching realization dawn on Brian’s face.   
“With everyone’s unique abilities we should be able to take down a bunch of humans.” Jae says and everyone nods before Yugyeom speaks.   
“Do you really think this is a good idea, Jae? They just lost their girlfriends and some of us were just injured.” He gestures to Sungjin and Brian and Jae’s expression hardens before he slams his hand flat on the desk hard.   
“I know, Yug. They were my friends too. I want to go get the three of them back, not just Elle. She may not be my girlfriend but she saved my life, I think I may be in love with her and she’s our boss. We need to go get them but the decision ultimately falls to you, Bri, as her second in command.” Jae turns to Brian, who is shocked by his outburst for a second before his face falls serious.   
“I’m not in the right head space to lead right now, so I am placing the decision in your hands. Do what you think is best, Jae.” Jae closes his eyes for a second before opening them again only for them to glow slightly.   
“Let’s go get our friends back.” He says as he stands soon followed by everyone else.   
It takes them not even twenty minutes to get to the warehouse where Elle is being held and less than five to get into position. When I give the signal, Brian, BamBam and Jinyoung go in first. Jae floats his thoughts across their minds, seeing everyone nod before giving the signal. He watches the three of them slink across the street and into the warehouse. We’re in. Brian’s voice floats across his mind and he nods. Yugyeom, Sungjin and Youngjae next. A minute later, Jae watches his three friends cross the street, slipping into the warehouse undetected. In. Sungjin informs him and he sighs, so far so good. First floor is clear. Brian says and Jae nods again. Jaebeom, Jackson and Wonpil, you next. He watches the two men and the wolf take off across the street and into the building. We’re in. Jaebeom tells him seconds before Yugyeom informs him that the second floor is clear. Dowoon, Mark let’s go. He says just before hovering out of his hiding spot and shooting across the street, followed closely by the vampire and werewolf. They make it into the building as Jackson tells him that the third floor is clear. Head up to the fourth floor then and wait for me. He nods his head as he gestures to Mark and Dowoon to follow him up the stairs. They hit the fourth floor and find six guards outside of a room and four more split evenly between two rooms. Dowoon and Wonpil charge first, creating a distraction so Mark can slip into one of the rooms with two guards and Jackson can slip into the other one. Cover your ears in three, two, one. Jinyoung, go. Everyone in hearing range covers their ears as Jinyoung purses his lips and whistles bursting all of the remaining four guards eardrums. He stops whistling when the guards fall to the ground and Jae rushes toward the door, to find it locked. He braces his hand on it and shoves causing it to explode. He sees Elle chained to a chair, unconscious and bleeding.   
“Sungjin! It’s clear. Come help with the chains please.” Sungjin rushes in and melts the chains in the back with a fireball. “They’re all dead?” Jae gestures to the guards on the floor and Brian nods. “Good. Let’s get her home. Mark and Jackson should have taken Shy and Ky already.” Jae says leading everyone out of the warehouse and onto the street.   
Sungjin immediately starts working on Elle once they’ve got her on a bed in the infirmary and Jae sends the others off to rest. Elle wakes a few hours later and Jae explains what happened after she was taken. She smacks his shoulder three or four times before pulling him into a hug. Sungjin heals the wounds that were inflicted on Shyla and Kyla’s bodies before Jae turns to him. “Don’t do anything else. They’re demons, they’ll be back. I don’t know how long it’ll take though. We just have to wait.” he places his hand on Sungjin’s shoulder.   
The answer comes for one of them three days later when Jae and Brian walk into the infirmary after breakfast to find Shyla’s body gone.   
“Where is she? She was just here this morning. I saw her.” Brian starts to panic as Jae hears it: the giggling. Shyla drops down onto Jae’s back from the ceiling and Brian freezes.   
“Dying fucking sucks. I need a nap. You did good, little buddy.” She kisses Jae’s cheek and he laughs.   
“Get the fuck off me and go love your damn boyfriend. He’s been crying for three days.” Jae says with absolutely no bite to it as his eyes land on Sungjin sitting beside Kyla’s still motionless body.   
“Awww. Pussy.” Shyla giggles before launching herself off of Jae and onto Brian.   
“I know, Jin. Hopefully she’ll wake up soon.” Jae says before leaving the infirmary to check on Elle.   
“You know you check on her more often than you used to.” Jackson from behind him and he turns with a shrug.   
“So?” Jae replies continuing on his way to Elle’s office.   
“You know we all heard what you said the other night.” Jackson calls out as Jae walks down the hall and he waves Jackson off.   
Two days after Shyla woke up, everyone is startled by screaming coming from the infirmary and when Wonpil peeks in, he quickly shuts the door.   
“What the hell was that?” Jae asks the wolf and Wonpil shakes his head.   
“Kyla woke up. You don’t wanna go in there.” Wonpil shudders slightly and Jae laughs.   
“You’re right, Pillie. I do not.” He guides Wonpil back into the dining room and gets him a glass of water, still chuckling. Jae, can I speak with you for a minute? Elle’s voice floats through Jae’s head and he makes his way upstairs to her office. “What’s up, boss?” Jae asks as he enters the room and she looks up at him.   
“We need to talk.” She says and he raises his eyebrows at her.   
“I know I didn’t send you those nudes.” He replies casually and she stares at him in shock.  
“What nudes?’ She asks and he doubled over, laughing.   
“The ones I sent to Brian.” As if on cue, Brian’s voice floats down the hallway.   
“What the fuck, Jaehyung?” He shouts and they can hear Shyla cackling. “Why are these so artful?” Brian’s loud voice comes again and instead of Jae it’s Shyla who responds.   
“Because I took them.” She cackles again probably at the shocked look on his face.   
“What the fuck, babe?! All he’s wearing is a flower crown!” Brian exclaims and Jae starts laughing again.   
“So? I watched the two of you in high school.” Brian’s only reply is a strangled noise and Jae starts laughing harder.   
“Will you two shut up? We’re trying to have a moment.” Elle shouts and Brian and Shyla shut up as Jae looks at her.   
“We were?” He asks and she nods.   
“Come here.” She says and Jae ducks his head, shuffling closer to her. “Jae.” She says softly causing him to look up at her. She grabs his face and kisses him softly.   
“What the hell was that?” He asks with wide eyes and she grins.   
“Mark told me what you said the night you rescued us.” She says softly and he frowns.   
“I’m gonna kill him.” He grumbles and she laughs softly.   
“Are you really?” She asks with a raised eyebrow and he shakes his head.   
“No.” He replies before kissing her again. 

*Time skip*

“I think there might be a book about it in the library, Jae.” Wonpil tells him as they make their way up the stairs.   
“I mean probably, Pil. I just haven’t looked.” Jae replies as they reach the landing and Wonpil chuckles.   
“Well, you might want to if you’re still thinking about it about almost a month later.” Wonpil grins cheekily at the fae beside him, who rolls his eyes in response.   
“I know. I’ve just been focused on other things. Wings are a bit weird though. I guess that’s why we’re headed to the library now though.” Jae shrugs as they come to stand outside the door. Wonpil opens the door, squeaks and shuts it again causing Jae to raise his eyebrow in question. “What the hell, Pil?” He asks as he goes to open the door again. He wasn’t expecting the sight before him but then again he wasn’t really surprised either. Shyla is sitting on one of the tables, cross legged, clicking her mandibles at Kyla, who is sitting on the table in front of Shyla, squawking at her with her beak.   
“What the actual fuck are you two doing?” Jae asks loudly, both girls jumping as they hadn’t heard the door open.   
“Making out.” comes Shyla’s reply and Jae’s eyebrows shoot up into his hairline.   
“As gross and horrifying as that sounds, I’m also slightly intrigued. Please continue.” The girls stare at him for a minute before the mandibles and beak disappear.   
“Why do you have to ruin all the fun, Jae? Nothing shocks you anymore.” Shyla whines as Jae laughs. “It’s clear, Pil.” He calls out into the hallway before turning back to them.   
“I live with the two of you. I got used to it. Also I can always ask Bam for his can of Raid.” He grins when Shyla sticks her tongue out at him and Kyla falls off the table laughing. 

*Time skips* 

Jae walks into the infirmary holding the bag of burgers close to his chest and looking at his phone. He isn't expecting the sight of Sungjin swinging an upside down Swiffer WetJet around when he looks up.   
"What are you doing?" He asks causing Sungjin to turn to him surprise before hunching his shoulders and squinting his eyes.   
"Pests." He grumbles to Jae before pushing the Swiffer against the ceiling and pulling the trigger. As soon as the spray is released, Shyla falls to the floor with a shout of 'Fuck!' Jae snorts as she stands up and pushes her wet bangs from her face.   
"I think I liked the old broom better." She grumbles as she passes Jae and walks out the door.


	2. 5 Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A wedding.....

“I can’t believe you let the girls talk you into a double wedding.” Jae tells Brian as he fixes his tie, Jinyoung makes a noise of agreement from across the room where he’s trying to coax Sungjin into drinking some water. “Why are you so nervous, Jin? You and Birdie have been together for almost seven years.” Jae props his hands on his hips and stares at the witch with a raised eyebrow. “I know but you never know what could happen with us. I’ve already lost her once.” Sungjin says, tears forming on his bottom lashes causing all three of the other men to roll their eyes. As Brian opens his mouth to say something, there’s a knock on the door and Dowoon pops his head into the room. “Are the idiots - I mean grooms ready? Eomma says it’s time.” He grins when Brian and Sungjin glare at him and Jae turns with a grin. “Thanks, pup.” Dowoon nods and withdraws his head.   
“Well let’s go.” Jinyoung ushers the three out of the dressing room and down the hall. Jae wraps an arm around Brian’s shoulders and grins at him before leaning in to whisper in his ear. “Not a damn thing is gonna happen today. There is enough fire power in this building that nothing could possibly go wrong.” Brian nods, his shoulders relaxing as the four of them enter the hall and make their way to the altar. “The music for the girls will start any second now. I hope you boys are ready.” Elle says from where she stands in between the boys and Jae can’t help but notice how beautiful she looks in the midnight blue dress that Shyla and Kyla had agreed on for the maid of honor. “Sungjin got teary eyed again and I’m a little worried about Bri keeping his normal shape but otherwise I think we’re good.” Jae grins at his girlfriend, who laughs and pats both Brian and Sungjin’s arms. “You two will be fine, it's just Shyla and Kyla.” She grins mischievously before stretching to place a kiss on Jae’s cheek as the music starts.   
“Get in place.” She orders quietly and the boys move quickly, ending up with Brian and Jae on the left of Elle while Sungjin and Jinyoung are on the right. They all turn to the doors, as they open, to see Shyla and Kyla walking down the aisle with Wonpil in the middle. They’re wearing matching lacy dresses with sheer veils and Jae can see both Brian and Sungjin tearing up so he reaches up to pat Brian’s shoulder. The three walking down the aisle stop a few paces from the altar and the girls look slightly confused.   
“What are you guys doing up here?” Kyla asks, glancing from Jae and Brian to Sungjin and Jinyoung. “Yeah. We’re marrying each other.” Shyla says with a grin as the entire hall laughs at the expressions on the boys’ faces. “Wait…” They say in unison causing everyone to laugh harder. "We're just kidding." Kyla announces hastily upon receiving a glare from Elle. Both girls kiss Wonpil's cheek before taking their places in front of Brian and Sungjin.   
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…" Jae tunes out the rest of what the minister is saying in favor of watching Elle smile. He's brought back to reality by the sound of Brian reciting the vows Jae had helped him write and tries not to laugh at how choked up his best friend sounded.   
After the four of them had said their vows and were officially married, Shyla leans around Brian to pin Jae with a look. "You're not gonna chicken out right?" She asks and he feels his face pale, knowing what she's referring to. "Would you shut the fuck up, Shy?" He almost begs when Brian glances between the two of them. "You're gonna do it right?" Kyla insists, leaning around everyone in her way and Jae sighs deeply. "Yes, I'm gonna do it. Now will the two of you shut up?" Jae glares between the two girls, who both shrug at him. "We just don't want all our planning to be for nothing, Jae." Shyla says as Brian finally raises his eyebrow at her. "Am I missing something?" He asks in confusion causing both girls to grin at him. "Lots of things, sweetheart." Shyla replies, reaching up to pat his cheek as Sungjin and Jinyoung snort.   
"Come on. Let's go." Jae changes the subject and offers his arm to Elle. "What do you have planned, my love?" She asks, wrapping her arm around his and letting him lead her after the newlyweds. "I have nothing planned, beautiful. I can't say the same for the girls." Jae grins at her and she rolls her eyes. They all finally make it to the room for the reception and take their seats. "This is beautiful." Jae hears Jackson mumble to Mark and Youngjae from the next table and smiles to himself. It had taken him, Wonpil and Dowoon almost six hours to decorate the room and he was glad it had turned out well.   
"So we decided," Kyla starts addressing the guests. "That the speeches would be said before the caterer brings out the food." Shyla finishes and Jinyoung stands up to make his speech. Jae can't help but laugh as Jinyoung makes fun of Sungjin for being a crybaby. When Jinyoung sits back down, Jae wipes his sweaty palms on his tuxedo pants and rises from his seat.   
"I wanna start by saying congratulations to Brian and Shyla as well as Sungjin and Kyla. I'm happy for you all. When Bri told me he'd bought a ring, I was surprised not because he was gonna propose but because I thought he already had. Sungjin even having a girlfriend to begin with was a surprise but Birdie is good for him. They eat the same amount so…." Jae trails off as everyone starts laughing. "Bri and Shy have been together for over a decade and Sungjin and Birdie have been together for almost seven years and I'm really glad they finally got hitched." He glances at the four of them to see Brian and Sungjin misty eyed and Shyla and Kyla moving their hands for him to continue.   
"So that should be the end of my speech but there is one more thing I have to say. Five years ago, a lot of things happened that I'm not gonna get into because I don't wanna but the one good thing was that I met the most beautiful woman." He pauses to glance over at Elle, who is giving him a murderous look. "We saved each other's lives and by the look on her face right now I may not live the night." He grins when everyone starts laughing and goes to pull her up. "Elle, I love you and would like to spend the rest of my life with you." He pauses again as he pulls a small box from his pocket. "Will you marry me?" He asks, dropping down to one knee in front of her. She stares at him for long enough to make him fidget before a smile breaks out on her face. "Yes, of course, you idiot." She pulls him up and kisses him before he can slip the ring on her finger and everyone cheers.


End file.
